Rational Minds
by GuardianLioness
Summary: Sasha and Dipper are both rational minds. One is definitely psychic. The other might be. (One-shot)


[Disclaimer: Gravity Falls is the property of Disney, and Psychonauts is the property of Double Fine. I am not making any money from the publishing of this fan-story.]

* * *

"Keep your eyes shut, Mr. Pines," Sasha intoned, a hint of frustration in his voice.

Dipper obeyed, but then sighed. "This isn't working, Agent Nein."

"You have not allowed enough time," Sasha said. "Buried psychic powers rarely manifest immediately."

Dipper sat in frustrated silence, trying to ignore the goosebumps rising on his arms. Despite the chill of the jet laboratory, he suspected the sensation of prickling flesh came from the purple arrowhead suspended in midair six inches away from his face.

"Mabel's did," Dipper said sourly.

"Your sister is an unusual case," Sasha replied. "Now focus."

"I'm her twin," the boy muttered. "Shouldn't I be an unusual case too?" Dipper sighed again but redoubled his mental efforts. A soft clicking sound broke his focus, and he opened his eyes. A second arrowhead had drifted upward to join the first. He quickly shut his eyes again, straining to reach out with his mind.

_"__What if I don't have psychic abilities after all?" _The thought pulsated in his head. _"What if Mabel grows up and becomes a Psychonaut with Raz and Lili and they leave me in the dust?! What if I turn out to be the boring person in the family? What if I'm doomed to be an accountant or something?!" _

"Mr. Pines-" Sasha began. Dipper had forgotten that the agent was trying to mentally jog any latent abilities and was thus reading his thoughts.

_"__Dipper," _the boy corrected mentally before realizing he'd just interrupted. _"Sorry."_

"Dipper," Sasha began again, the name falling awkwardly from his accented mouth. "You are correct, this isn't working."

The boy froze. _"No, nonono, I'm not psychic? No! Mabel's going to go do incredible things and I'm gonna be stuck here and-"_

_"__Dipper," _Agent Nein's voice spoke in his head, forcing Dipper to curb his thoughts. _"I have not given up. I am merely suggesting we try a different method. There is a distinct possibility that the Psitanium arrowheads are not enough to bring your powers to the surface. It could be that you simply need to uncover them before the Pstianium can activate them."_

_"__And how do we do that?" _Dipper thought, measuring his breathing to quell his panic.

_"__There is one thing we could try, although it's not strictly…Allowed. However, I believe it would produce results." _He paused. _"I could pull your consciousness into my mind."_

"What?" Dipper asked aloud, suddenly confused.

"Most psychics can project their minds into other brains," Agent Nein spoke again. "But a few - a rare few - can pull other minds into their own. I hypothesize a change in…Mental scenery, if you will, would bring any buried pieces of your psyche to the forefront of your mind."

_"__That…That might work, Agent Nein,"_ Dipper thought, feeling comfortable enough now to shift back to telepathic communication.

_"So you wish to attempt it?"_

_"__Yes," _Dipper thought.

_"__When you are within my mind, I ask that you stay close. There are unpleasant things buried in dark places, and without active powers, you cannot defend yourself." _Nein paused. _"This will be an off-the-record experiment, Dipper. There are strict regulations on using this technique, and we are breaking many of them."_

"Okay," Dipper said nervously. He heard Sasha breathe out slowly. Something violently seized his thoughts, dragging them forcefully forward. The boy gasped as he felt his consciousness leave his body. Suddenly, he tripped, falling flat on his face. He sat up. Woah.

He was sitting on a white-and-black patterned surface that stopped short. The sky - was it a sky? - was black, marbled over with green and purple clouds. "Are you alright?" Sasha asked. Dipper twitched in surprise, not realizing that the Psychonaut had been standing next to him.

"Yeah," Dipper said, standing up and dusting himself off. "So…This is your mind? It's so…Orderly. Where do you keep everything?"

Sasha seemed a bit surprised. "Razputin thought that my mind was completely empty the first time he came here," he said, explaining his change of expression. "Follow me, I'll explain how it works."

Dipper tagged along, following the man along the flat plane. As they neared the edge, Sasha showed no sign of stopping. "Wait-" Dipper started to shout, but the agent kept walking until he walked into empty space. Dipper gasped and knelt by the edge, peering over. To his shock, he saw Sasha standing sideways on another surface, glancing back at him with a faint but amused smile.

"It's a cube," Dipper said, his eyes widening. The boy braced himself, trying to ignore the panic gathering at the thought of stepping into nothing. He walked forward, finding himself suddenly standing right-way-up on another face of the cube.

"I keep all of my thoughts, nightmares, and everything else on the inside of this cube," Sasha explained. "Organization makes it easier to control, which in turn makes it safer for my students and partner."

"Raz never told me what you teach," Dipper said, just then remembering that Agent Nein was one of the Camp Whispering Rock training counselors.

"I specialize in marksmanship," Sasha explained. "Shooting psychic blasts."

"That's…Incredible," Dipper said, unable to hide the awe in his voice.

"Hasn't Razputin shown you a psi-blast yet?" Sasha was surprised. The Razputin _he_ knew would take any chance he had to show off.

"No," Dipper admitted. "He didn't use it on our first adventure, and refused to show us anything after Agent Cruller called about his report and said we might have psychic powers too."

"That was surprisingly wise of Razputin. He was probably trying to prevent you from trying advanced techniques without assistance," Sasha nodded.

The Psychonaut stepped forward, and a piece of the cube face sank beneath his foot. Suddenly, a shiny object appeared on the other side of the plane. Dipper squinted. It looked like…A lamp? "Observe, Dipper." A bolt of blue light shot out from in front of Sasha's head and rocketed into the lamp, shattering it.

"Woah," Dipper breathed. "How- How do you-"

Sasha stepped down again, and three more lamps appeared on the cube face. "Psi-blasts," he said, firing off another bolt of energy. "Are generated by-" one lamp shattered. "Capturing and using your emotions." A third energy blast, and another lamp bit the dust. Sasha paused, the center lamp still standing.

The agent put a hand on Dipper's shoulder, guiding him over to stand directly across from the last lamp. "All of that panic you were feeling earlier?" Sasha said, the slight smile back on his face. "Gather it up. Use it."


End file.
